Jones’s Maiden Voyage

Jane NotRog said:
That was a subject of discussion over dinner! The hope was Morocco, but I think we want diesel heating for that, and probably won’t get it this winter, despite promises to that effect. Rog is booked for a 4WD driving day in May in Germany, so we may use that channel crossing to base a trip on. How about you, any plans?
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The 4WD course sounds fun!

We’re not sure whether to do Morroco in this van (LPG issue but not new any more) or wait till we change, in which case we’ll be wanting diesel heating, more electric etc. In any case Morocco would be a year later.

Tentatively thinking of a shorter ‘easy’ trip to France/Netherlands/Germany end April/May to get Nala’s rabies vaccine done. Can’t be too long as we’re meant to be getting house ready to sell 😂.
 
Jane NotRog said:
The last day! With only an hour to drive to Dunkirk, we felt a lot more relaxed and slept in a little, which meant even Roger Of Course I’ll Have The Large Wine Pairing Nolan didn’t feel too bad, and I (Half Size Wine Pairing Plus Swerve to Non-alcohol Pairing) felt just fine.

After a final shop at Delhaize for goodies, we stopped at a little games shop in the middle of nowhere called Spelgenot. It didn’t really look like much more than a house, but we rang the bell and were welcomed by a friendly bloke who spoke good English and helped us to find English versions of a few games we wanted. His wife appeared carrying a cockerel. “It is a man chicken and I am getting him used to people,” she explained. The friendly cat and nervous Chihuahua (and the Jane) looked on in amazement.

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Next we stopped at Blankaart nature reserve, which was basically the grounds of a former manor house, now a mix of board walk trails, woods and lake with bird observation huts.

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And, then, we’re finally back into France - our stop for the night is the aire at Gravelines. Surprisingly, despite living very near Calais for 11 years, we’ve never actually visited this town. Gravelines was built in the 12C around the mouth of a canal built to connect the former port of St Omer to the sea, after silting cut it off. Due to Gravelines’ proximity to Spanish-owned Flanders, it was heavily fortified. We had a walk around town to inspect said fortifications- very spiffy they were too.

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We tried to book dinner at L’Eclusier, which was both near the aire and highly recommended, but it was totally booked up - the first time that’s happened this trip. Our second choice was also fully booked, so we settled for Bistrot Gourmet.

But first a quick play of two of our games. Flip 7 is great fun, even with two - it’s one of those games like poker where you have to decide whether to stick and keep your points, or get another card, and if you get a duplicate, you score zero.

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Bistrot Gourmet was perfectly fine, could cook a bavette rare, and was friendly to boot. It was a relaxing and fun evening to end our trip with.

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And now I’m setting the alarm to early, and fingers are crossed that the Channel is calm…
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I very nearly stopped at Gravelines tonight as I usually do, but decided to change my crossing from tomorrow morning to tonight to give me an easier travelling day tomorrow, so I am currently on the 8.00pm Dunkirk - Dover, and it is flat calm. Hopefully it will still be the same in the morning for your crossing.
A night in Canterbury P&R before the boring journey back to north Wales.
 
Wanders from Glos said:
As always a brilliant, informative and witty thread. I imagine you two are very good company.

Safe crossing tomorrow. Look forward to reading the next one. For us probably Scandinavia.
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Norway is always a possibility for us next summer. But gas heating really eats the gas, and I bet Norway would need it.
 
Jane NotRog said:
Norway is always a possibility for us next summer. But gas heating really eats the gas, and I bet Norway would need it.
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Yes we have had refillable gas tanks fitted, I’m hoping that will be sufficient. There is LOG available there.

This year think it has been quite warm but you obviously can’t guarantee it.
 
Wanders from Glos said:
Yes we have had refillable gas tanks fitted, I’m hoping that will be sufficient. There is LOG available there.

This year think it has been quite warm but you obviously can’t guarantee it.
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Yes, we had ours moved over from Denby. In Denby we barely used the gas - just a little for hot water and the hob. In Jones we’ve really noticed how much the heating uses, and it’s not even been that cold.

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We’re home!

Thanks to everyone who followed along with our journey - we’ve had a fantastic time!
 
Many thanks for this thread. Romania looks amazing - it's just a long way to go.

This funghi, you posted recently is Chicken of the Woods and is highly prized for eating. You didn't need to find a restaurant that night. :)

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DBK said:
Many thanks for this thread. Romania looks amazing - it's just a long way to go.

This funghi, you posted recently is Chicken of the Woods and is highly prized for eating. You didn't need to find a restaurant that night. :)

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Yes, our Seek app did recognise that one for us. We thought we’d better not take it from a nature reserve! :)
 
Thanks for the thread it’s be very enjoyable and informative, also whetted our appetite for Romania in particular.

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Great thread and travel story to be remembered for many years. Glad you've made it back almost in one piece. Hope you get the van sorted as painlessly as possible.

Also hope Flynn's constitution is nice and 'solid'. We have a few stories about a large doodle with a sometimes explosive, liquidus constitution. But they're for another day!
 
We were booked in at National Windscreens on Wednesday this week but they just called to say Jones is too big for their workshop and we've been promoted to the "Special Glass Team" apparently they can recalibrate the camera on the driveway.

Lets see.
 

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